The Evolution of Nature
by VGWrighte
Summary: A  three of  The Five story, mainly about Magnus and Watson, but a healthy dose of Nigel.  Minor spoilers for Normandy, I suppose.
1. Chapter 1

The Evolution of Nature

Based on Sanctuary, created by Damian Kindler

Featuring (three of) The Five; Helen, James and Nigel.

- . - . - . - London, England

"Well?" Helen asked, looking over James' shoulder.

He sat upright, resting his telescopic spectacles on his brow with a puzzled look on his face. "I'm not sure." He stood and handed her his spectacles, motioning for her to look as well.

She sat and examined the interest carefully. "It almost looks like a polyp," she said, letting the spectacles slide down her nose to glance at him over them.

"What does it mean for my dog, Doctor Ma'am?" the small boy asked, looking up at her with hope and curiosity, perhaps some fear.

Helen smiled comfortingly at him. "I'm not quite sure yet. But we'll solve it."

The dog belonged to the son of the cook employed by James and herself at the Sanctuary. Both the child and the dog were often visitors at the Sanctuary. James had taken to giving the dog scraps of meat, and the child bits of treats.

When the boy brought in his dog who had been "acting sad," James swung into action.

"Eloise," Helen turned to her cook and the boy's mother, "when did you first notice the growth?"

Eloise thought for a moment. "Yesterday, evening, perhaps. It was a deal smaller then."

"Then it's growing quickly?" James asked.

Eloise nodded. "Very."

James glanced at Helen, a silent conversation being had. "Jeremy," he turned to the boy, "do you mind if I take care of your dog this evening?"

The boy looked nervous.

James smiled at him reassuringly. "I'll give him a few scraps of meat," he said with a conspirator's grin. With a flick of his wrist, a small treat appeared on his hand. Helen and Eloise smiled at how James' slight of hand amazed the small boy.

Smiling, Jeremy nodded. "I don't mind at all, Sir."

James smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "There's a good lad."

Eloise motioned for her son and put her hands on his shoulders. "Thank you, Doctor Magnus, Doctor Watson."

James smiled. "Don't think of it, Ms. Eloise. We'll know more in the morning."

They said their farewells and Helen walked them out, even though they were as familiar with the building as she was. She joined James again in the study.

"Well, what do you think?" Helen asked him again, knowing that he preferred not to speculate in front of the boy, as not to worry him.

"It's certainly not a natural growth, and you're right, it does reassemble a polyp."

"It wouldn't be unreasonable to hypothesize that it would mature into another form, like cnidarians," she sat down on her side of their partner's desk.

James petted the dog as he thought. "It would not. However, we've no way of knowing how its maturation would effect Toby, here." He scratched behind the dog's ear.

"You suggest we remove it?"

He shifted in his seat slightly. "Not immediately, but I'm considering it."

"We've no idea what that would do to the creature, or Toby for that matter."

He nodded thoughtfully. "That is why I am not sure."

Helen stood. "I believe I will peruse my father's books on abnormal cnidarians. Hopefully I can find some information there."

James nodded absently as she left, slipping the telescopic spectacles back on his nose. "Very well. I am going to run a few tests."

- . - . -

Helen pinched the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. None of her fathers books were helpful. He had more than several abnormal cnidarians on record, but none that grew on mammals. Closing the large volume, she began to rethink her strategy entirely.

It was growing on a mammal.

It had latched onto a mammal.

Like a tick or a flea.

She started perusing her shelves for a book on Acarina. She heard a commotion from the other room. The dog barked, she heard James cry out. Helen shouted his name, running to the other room. She found James lying on the floor, holding his arm, and the dog barking at a broken window pane.

"James!" She rushed to his side and dropped to her knees. "Are you alright?"

He nodded, clutching his upper arm. "It seems our polyp matured," he said with his typical dry humor.

She helped him sit and examined his arm. "Did Toby bite you?" she asked.

He nodded. "The old boy didn't know how to react when something on his skin grew wings and tore itself from his body."

"You'll be all right?" She helped him to his feet.

He nodded. "Helen, that creature grew significantly. Retrieving it may be difficult." She glanced at Toby's neck where the polyp had been growing. The patch of missing fur was perhaps the size of her palm.

She headed towards the door. "Come, Watson, your hat and coat."

The moment she opened the door, Toby ran through it like a hound on the scent. For a moment, Helen simply thought he was heading home after his traumatic experience.

"He's following it," James said with a hint of interest and amazement, also realizing the dog hadn't turned towards home.

Helen started out the door. "It appears we haven't a moment to lose."

Eventually, they caught up with Toby as he was circling back. "Borrowing" some rope from a street cart, James leashed the dog and again they were off. How long they tailed the creature, she wasn't sure, but Toby slowed near the base of a bridge. He handed her the leash to Helen and removed his jacket.

She took Toby to the other side of the bridge and saw the creature resting on the stone column. It appeared that she had been correct with her acarina hypothesis. It reassembled a tick, though it was nearly the size of a human skull.

James approached it slowly, preparing to use his jacket as a snare. It briefly occurred to Helen that they shouldn't have left the Sanctuary without something to apprehend the creature. At least they would never make the same mistake again.

James lunged at it, amazingly capturing it in his jacket. He struggled with it for several seconds. He cried out and almost dropped his jacket, but he managed to secure the bundle and held it away from his body. He was wincing.

"James?" she asked, stepping towards him.

He shook his head. "I'm all right. Let us get this contained and you can doctor me later."

- . - . -

They made it home that evening and were able to contain the creature. Helen doctored James' wounds, the dog bite on his arm and a bite from the creature on his neck. They returned Toby to Jeremy the next day, healthy and happy.

Over the next few days, Helen studied the creature. After several tests she dubbed the new found species Ixodiodea Cnidos, an acartina - cnidarian hybrid. It really was fascinating. On the evening of the fourth day, James came to her, saying her name softly.

Helen looked up. He had pulled the bandage off his neck. The wound had festered. "James!" she stood quickly, crouching before his chair. She put her hand to his forehead, he had a fever as well. "Come."

She helped him to his feet and to his room, where she helped him into bed. Helen removed his suspenders and his shirt. "Rest. I'll be back." She left him and quickly returned with bandages, towels, an antiseptic and bowl of water. First she placed a damp towel on his forehead and then turned to the wound on his neck.

It appeared as if the Ixodiodea Cnidos left a residue in the wound and it had festered. She applied a topical anesthetic and started removing infected tissue.

He was conscious and alert while she treated him, but she could tell the fever was slowly taking hold. She paused for a moment to wipe some of the sweat from his neck and shoulders. Helen applied an antiseptic and covered the wound on his neck.

"Helen," he breathed her name.

She wiped his forehead and replaced the cool towel there. "It's all right, James, I'm here."

The minutes turned to hours, but fever still racked his body. He had trouble keeping his eyes open, but she knew he couldn't sleep. Without a second thought, Helen removed her boots and climbed into James' bed with him. He fell onto her immediately, resting his head against her breast.

She wiped the sweat from his brow, neck and shoulders, and ran her fingers through his hair. He was noticeably calmer in moments. It wasn't long until they were both asleep.

- . - . -

James' fever broke before morning, and he was himself. He was tired, but all right. He stayed in bed all day with a novel he had been endeavoring to read but was never able to find the time. Helen visited him several times during the day, and brought him some light soup for dinner and again for supper.

She sat with him after supper for a few hours, condensing her notes on the Ixodiodea Cnidos into an entry for her records. After hearing him yawn several times, she closed her notebook, and looked up at him. "I suppose you're right," she said. "It is getting late." Making sure he was comfortable, she left him and retired to her own chambers.

Helen woke about an hour later. Something wasn't quite right. Nothing was Earth-shatteringly wrong, but something wasn't quite right. She got up, slipped on her robe and toured the halls of the Sanctuary. All was well. All the diurnal creatures were asleep, and all the nocturnal ones were awake.

Still aware of a slight tingling in her spine, she made her way to James' room. She quietly opened his door and leaned against the frame. Helen watched James roll over restlessly. He threw off his covers, rolled again, pulled one blanket back, and rolled again.

"Helen?" he asked, having turned towards the door and seeing her in the doorframe.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

He shuffled onto his back and turned his head towards her with a brave smile. "Trouble sleeping, my dear."

Without a second thought, Helen entered his room, shutting the door softly behind her. James watched in interested silence. She removed her robe and slid under his covers next to him.

"Helen?" he questioned her actions with the simple askance of her name.

"Sleep, James."

"Helen." This time her name conveyed his concern at her actions.

"James, sleep," she said with a little more conviction. She put her arm around him and pulled him to her. He rested his head in the crook of her arm. Helen let her fingers lazily comb through his hair and waited as his body slowly relaxed and fell into sleep, hers followed.

- . - . - . -

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

The Evolution of Nature

Chapter Two: And now the conclusion

Based on Sanctuary, created by Damian Kindler

Please do your very best to read all of Nigel's lines with Vincent Gale's lovely accent. I considered trying to write his lines phonetically, but I decided that would be awful for all involved.

- . - . - . - Weeks Later

Helen felt James roll over and reach towards the kerosene lamp on the bedside stand and turn the wick up. While the rest of the Sanctuary had long ago been modernized, he still liked the natural flame light for his late night reading lamp. Light slowly filled the room and they both sat up, looking towards the large wardrobe in the corner, which now stood open and rustling.

Even though they could not see him, Helen was sure Nigel turned to look at them. They watched a pair of trousers come out of the wardrobe and seemingly fit themselves onto a pair of invisible legs. Once they were around an invisible waist, the waist and the man it belonged to became visible.

Nigel looked embarrassed.

The dozens, hundreds, of times Helen had seen Nigel partially or fully undressed, he never looked embarrassed. Except, well, of course, the first time it had happened. But they both had been embarrassed.

She studied his gaze for a second.

"Helen?" he finally asked in disbelief.

She lifted her chin in understanding. He was embarrassed on witnessing a couple in bed together. Fully dressed in night clothes or not, it was an intimate setting, and Nigel felt like an interloper.

James, ever the witty conversationalist, ignored the elephant in the room. "Run into some trouble this evening, Nigel?" he asked.

Nigel shook his head and turned to James. "Well, I won't bore you with the details," he answered, donning one of James' shirts. "Suffice it to say, a stealthy retreat was required. I would've gone home, however the Sanctuary was closer and it is bloody freezing out."

Peering at him through the dimly lit room, Helen couldn't help but notice his normally pale skin was deathly white. He was right, it was freezing out. She tossed back the bed covers and reached for her robe. "Come, I'll make you some tea. We have a room on permanent reserve for you."

He held up his hands. "Helen," he tried to protest.

She shook her head. "No arguments." She turned back to James, who was adjusting the device that regulated the rhythm and strength of his heartbeats. "Stay, sleep. I know you've been tired recently, and don't try to convince me otherwise."

He gave her a sheepish smile. "Of course not, my dear. Good evening, Nigel," he big them good night as they left the room.

Helen and Nigel walked down the hall to the staircase. "He's been tired?" Nigel asked.

Helen nodded. "I believe his device will need some upgrading, perhaps some respiratory regulation. I need to run some tests to be sure."

Nigel nodded and silence lingered on their way to the kitchen.

She put on a kettle. "Would you like something to eat?" she asked.

Nigel shook his head. He pulled up a chair for the two of them, his quite close to the stove, his skin feeling starved for heat. "So," he said once she sat down across from him, "what's this, then?"

She knew exactly to what he referred, however she didn't answer immediately, not knowing the answer. What was this? Were she and James a couple now? She wasn't sure. They shared sleeping quarters now and had for several weeks, at least. There was a new dimension of intimacy to their relationship, not that of a married couple, but intimate none-the-less.

"Well?" he asked again.

"I'm not sure, Nigel," she answered, realizing she had kept him waiting a short while.

"How long?" he asked.

"Several weeks, at the least. A few months at the most." The steaming kettle caught her attention, making her aware of exactly how long she had contemplated his question before he asked her again. She poured the steaming water into a teapot and retrieved two cups and tea leaves. She poured them both a cup, acutely aware of his constant gaze.

"And?" he asked once she had sat down again. Despite the simple nature of the question, she knew exactly what he was asking.

"We find comfort in it," she answered. "Respite, solidarity. A productive and rewarding partnership."

Nigel set down his cup. "You talk about it like you've gotten new dog," he said with the hint of a laugh in his voice.

Helen took a sip of her tea. "Not quite, however I have not been this satisfied with companionship in a long time."

Nigel nodded, turning back to his tea. "Things are good, then? You're happy?"

She smiled softly. "I am, we both are."

There was comfortable silence for a moment. Nigel, again, set his tea down, preparing his words. "Forgive the brashness of this statement, it does come with all the respect and love in the world." They smiled at each other. "However, I feel this is an argument your father would make. Your father and James."

Helen placed her cup on the table, signaling him to make his point.

"You've gotten pregnant out of wedlock before."

Her eyes slipped closed, considering the statement. "It hasn't come to that, not yet at least."

Nigel's eyebrows rose in surprise. He had expected there was more between James and herself, he had no reason to expect otherwise. He did catch them in the same bed in the home they shared, for heaven's sake.

"Will it?" he asked.

"Likely as not," she replied in a non-committal manner. She had considered it before. A physical relationship between James and herself was not completely unimaginable, that was sure. Whether or not one would actually develop, only time would tell. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it, I suppose."

There was another moment of comfortable silence. Feeling the conversation had been satisfied, she changed the subject, "You're always welcome here, Nigel," she said, offering him again a permanent place to stay and work for the uncounted time.

He smiled his boyish smile. "I know, but my place isn't here. It's not my nature to live by all the rules." He chuckled. "Though, I suppose, it's not your either." He stood after finishing his tea. "I guess I'll turn in, then. Thank you for your hospitality.

He paused at the doorway and turned back to her. "For a long time, it appeared as if you and James would never fully recover, never forgive yourselves." Recover from John's betrayal, he meant, and forgive themselves for their part in it. "I don't think that's true anymore."

She smiled softly again. "You may be correct, Nigel. You just may be correct."

She watched him leave and poured herself just a little more. Nigel was right, he could never work for the Sanctuary, he and Nikola were alike in that aspect. He could never be confined by the specificity which grounded her organization, at least not permanently. He had been volunteering his assistance on occasion, and more so in recent years.

Perhaps people could change. Perhaps she could learn to let go of the guilt of the past and move on.

She was happy with James. Perhaps nearly as happy as she had been with John. She paused, no, they were too different to compare. She did love them both. She loved them differently, that was sure, but she loved them both, none-the-less.

John had changed her, all those years ago. And in the interim, James had changed her as well. Like the Ixodiodea Cnidos, Helen was no longer who she once had been. That itself was a concerning thought. But, at least, she had James.

She made her way back to the room they shared and joined him in the bed they shared. Her movement didn't disturb his sleep. She watched him for a moment, asleep with a device regulating his heartbeat. Helen leaned over and placed a kiss on his temple.

She had James, and he had her.

- . - FIN - . -


End file.
